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Friday, May 29, 2009

I love the little sentiment on this card...it is from an Inque Boutique set, and unfortunately they are no longer in business. A darn shame, too, their stamps were great! Anyway, this card fulfills a slew of challenges:

Edited to add: Liza asked me where I used the Sponge Daubers....the flowers are two layers, one of Pumpkin Pie, the other Haiku. I sponged the edges of the PP flowers--hard to see in the photo!Thanks for asking, Liza!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

I have said before that I don't do big bows on cards....not that I don't like big bows, I love them! They just don't mail well. However, my niece is getting married on Saturday and since the reception is in my back yard, at my brother's house, I can hand-carry this little baby without fear of crushing it!! I happened to find a gigantic spool of this wide organdy ribbon in my daughter's floral supplies stash, and she said I could have it!

So, how's that for a big fat bow? This really is not my style of card, but once in a while, I think it's fun to be a little extravagant! The image is stamped in Craft Pure Plum on Shimmery White, embossed with Clear EP, then watercolored with Pale Plum reinkers. The sentiment from PTI's Mixed Messages is on a little CB Pale Plum tag. Brushed Silver cardstock was put through the D'Vine Swirls CB folder and mounted on a Pale Plum card. A few little rhinestones finish it off.

My dad and my sister also asked me to make cards, so since the wedding colors are in the purple family, I made another one, a little more subdued ....but the jury is still out on this one too! Just not too sure. I realized that I just don't have any wedding stamps! Horrors!

This uses a combination of Happy Everything, Darling Dots, and Flourishes Holiday Greetings, along with a hand-written "a"!!! I used some DCWV white-core paper on a Bordering Blue card. My dad will probably use this one, as he won't want a frilly one!!!

And finally, from my stash, a golden oldie---no, maybe my dad will want THIS one, since he has a sense of humor:

I believe this was the first Ronald McDonald set that SU came out with, but for the life of me, I can't find it in my catalogs! Aw, it's kinda cute, isn't it!? Anyone remember what year this is from? You won't win a prize, just my undying gratitude!!! Have a great day!

My sweet bloggin' friend Kim sent me some High Hopes images and I just had to color one up and make a card real quick:

This is the last one that went into my Cards For Heroes package---the sentiment is computer-generated; I thought a soldier could send this home to his sweetie! And I actually used Copics on this one! No glitter allowed, so I just added a little flower popped up on the oval sentiment. Kind of sparse but I was in a hurry to get it finished and in the box!

Kim also sent me this little cutie:

Aren't they sweet? Reminds me of Wilbur and Fern. Love the detail on this card, just wonderful! Hey, you all have a blessed day! Thanks for visiting!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

I have a nice fat stack of cards all boxed up and ready to be sent to Cards for Heroes! Some were ones I took from my stash, but I did make a few new ones, plus I had the girls from my stamp camp Saturday morning make a few as well:

These were "Any Hero" cards, meaning they are sent to soldiers themselves with a note of thanks inside. We made four of these easy, simple cards altogether. (Can you see the star theme going on here??!!)

Men's birthday cards are in demand, so I made a few:

This one uses another image from Artistic Outpost with some papers from Basic Grey and Crafty Secrets; image is from MFT. This is also for Stacey's Jewelry Challenge #38 this week!

A CAS using Boxer and Sahara Sand.

And finally, a little bit of "home"....using the Farm image from StampScapes, watercolored and matted on a Nesties.

If you need more information about Cards for Heroes, you can go here! Thanks for visiting! God bless!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Today's colors were chosen by Tammy: Bordering Blue, Elegant Eggplant and Barely Banana. My Elegant Eggplant folder is getting a real workout here lately! Really cool colors together! And speaking of cool, have you stopped by theStampin' Out Alzheimer's site this week to check out all the amazing challenges and prize giveaways going on there? Tammy says there's an added bonus to our challenge this week in conjunction with the challenges going on at Stampin' Out Alzheimers! If you participate in today's challenge, and you're a registered and paid member (meaning you made at least a $5 minimum donation to register) at the SOA site, you will go in a random drawing to win a 6x6 pad of the Wisteria paper from Basic Grey! (I wouldn't mind winning that myself!) If you haven't registered for all the fun at the SOA site, there's still time to get involved!

I cased a wonderful card from my sideline Kim to make my creation today. You can see it here. I love getting ideas from other stampers!! We'd like to see what your ideas are and what you can come with using this combination, or something close. Post your card on your blog or an online gallery using the keyword CTD44. Go to the CTD blog and link it there via Mr. Linky (I hope he's fixed now!). So here's my creation:

I used my Big Shot to cut the flowers, leaves and the two Top Notes; the ribbon was stamped with Craft EE ink and heat set. The background paper is from K&Co "Recycled", and sponged with Barely Banana ink. MS glitter blings up the centers. I did use a tiny little bit of Old Olive for the leaves....the stems looked a little naked without! A fun, happy card!

Strawberry Mojo---that sounds like a drink, doesn't it!! LOL Whew, I think I need one after that incredible blog hop weekend for Cards for Heroes! If you pledged to send cards, be sure to do so; you can check out all the details of how and where to mail them on their website. Now, for the winner of the Cards for Heroes blog candy:

Lynn from The Wienee Ranch!:

I love your cards. Thanks so much for supporting this event. I am the proud Mother of a US soldier! Thank you for supporting our troops. I love the vintage images you used! I am a Blue Star Mother. We adopted a base in Afghanistan last year and sent boxes and boxes of cards for them to send back home. the Chaplain on the base built a special display cabinet for the cards to be displayed in. It is a blessing to support the troops and to receive a letter of thanks is such a blessing. Again. thanks for supporting our troops!!

Thank you, Lynn! I actually think that display cabinet may have been pictured on CHF's blog....I remember seeing something very similar! And don't forget to check the CHF because YOU might have won something from their sponsors! Thanks to all of them as well. I am very humbled to be a part of this event, and hope to continue to send cards throughout the year!

I stumbled through this Mojo Sketch #88--you might think I had never stamped before....cut, recut, rip, remeasure, tape, rip again.....oh well. This week's sketch is also for Stampin' Out Alzheimers. If you haven't heard about this event, you can check it out here. Another great cause!

So here it is:

I put no sentiment on it as I figured this could be used for a variety of occasions. All products are SU except the brads, Nesties and CB folder. I used a similar theme when I made little door prizes for my downlines who had recruited new demonstrators or signed up themselves recently:

This is a post-it note holder; I used Pink Pirouette as the base and Whisper White for the eyelet border. I know I whined about losing Parisian Breeze, but I am going to be sad to see this Bella Rose DP go too! (I do have a WHOLE pack of this paper left!!!) Be sure to stop back tomorrow for another Color Throwdown!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Well, what a great weekend we had--the weather was gorgeous, I had a stamp camp, my DH marched in the Memorial Day parade in our little town, we went sailing, ate dinner with some friends, worked in the yard, planted some flowers, the farmer who rents my dad's field did mowing, raking and baling (it takes me back to when I was a little girl and MY dad was farming!) and the Card For Heroes Blog Hop was incredibly successful!! THANK YOU SO MUCH to all the dedicated, big-hearted, wonderful stampers who left comments and pledged to send cards! I tried to leave personal thank you's to most of you, but if I wasn't able, I am saying it here! I was able to clean out my card box and gathered almost 30 cards to send to CFH! And hopefully I will be able to do more. There is still a little time to leave a comment on my post to participate in the blog candy giveaway, too! And tomorrow, I'll have some stamped things to share--lots of stuff going on!! Again, thank you! Meanwhile, here are a few photos from my weekend:

Friday, May 22, 2009

Caution: this is a long post, but I think worthwhile! I hope you have an extra minute to read and participate!

Happy Early Memorial Day! What a blessing it is to reflect on what this day means to us as Americans--honoring those who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we can continue to live in freedom. I thank the Lord that there are men and women who are willing to serve in such a way.

I have been asked to participate this weekend in a Cards for Heroes blog hop! This is something new for me---but it is for a good cause, so I thought I would try it out! I hope you will visit some of the other participating blogs and see what is out there--lots of prizes, blog candy and patriotic samples to view. Here what they are all about:

Cards for Heroes' mission is to support our nation's armed forces by sending blank greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them throughout their deployment. We are an all-volunteer group of crafters. To date we have sent over 140,000 cards to our heroes serving in the Middle East. You can find more information on making and sending cards here.

I hope that after reading CFH's blog, you will be inspired to send some cards! I have never sent cards to this particular organization, but my customers and I have sent cards to troops through a local chiropractor's office. However, in the class I am having today, I will be featuring a card that my customers can make and forward on to CFH!

So here are a few details:

If you are a regular blog reader of mine, or you just "arrived", you can begin your blog hop here. This will direct you to your first step at CFH, as well as give you a chance to check out incentives, RAKs and prizes!

If you are already on the hop, the next stop is Eva. Her blog is awesome--full of really fun scrapbook ideas! Fun and fresh is the way I would describe her style!

If you leave a comment on my blog and pledge to send a card to CFH, you will entered in my drawing to win the Stampin'Up! set Botanical Blooms, plus some other goodies I'll throw in the package! I'll leave it open until midnight, May 25. (Please be sure to leave me a link or email address so I can contact you!)

So on to my card:

I just received "Hero" from Artistic Outpost. I think I first saw this image on Broni's blog a long time ago, and I really liked it. How timely! I love these vintage images, but when I go to apply them to paper, I sometimes struggle. I am not too happy with these colors, but I do love that little boy image! Isn't he cute? The star and sentiment are from a little Studio G clear stamp set. I do hope someone will like and appreciate the card.

Again, I hope you can participate and send in a card or cards! I'll bet you have cards just sitting around that you could donate today! A direct link to packaging and mailing instructions is here. You will feel really glad you did!!

I had been wanting to make a circular card for a couple days and when I saw the LSC221 challenge at SCS, I jumped on it! My niece is graduating in a couple weeks, and rather than do the traditional school colors/theme, I used PTI's Mixed Messages to make her graduation card:

I broke into some hoarded Daisy Bucket DP I had and used my Nesties to make a scalloped card base. Other Sissix dies were used for the flowers and leaves, as well as a felt flower from Felt Fusion Two; button is from Walmart. A little crimping on the banner and leaf add some dimension. TFL!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

I am so sad....I cut into my last piece of Tangerine Tango today. I know I can get more....but don't know if I can justify it when it will be gone next month! Anyway, I needed a quick little gift for a customer this morning, and the Project Tuesday challenge interested me, so I thought I would give it a try.

The challenge was to make a peek-a-boo treat holder; directions are here. This is another Papertrey set that Shawn lent me and I thought it would be cute made into a teabag holder. It's called Tea for Two!!! So very cute. I got a K&Co "recycled" pad yesterday (on sale!!) in these wonderful summery citrus colors, so that drove my color selection. I inked the teapot in Apricot Appeal, then used a dauber to add some shading around the edges with Tangerine Tango BEFORE I stamped it. I then stamped it on WW and stamped the outline in Really Rust....I think I am in love with this set!!! I just adore how it turned out! Anyway, I added a little MS scallop and popped up the teapot on dimensionals.

Here are a couple inside shots:

You get the picture! I tied it all up with pretty melon-colored twill from Taylored Expressions! Very easy, fun project! Thanks for visiting today!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

My first thought was to stamp some violets, but my sweet friend Shawn lent me her new PTI Scattered Showers set, and I was itching to play with it! I checked the Mojo Monday sketch for this week:

and then I went to work with my colors and stamps!

I realize that my center panel should have been a square--oh dear! I am pleading creative license! And this card is rather busy for me! Lots of activity going on....you know how you keep adding on and embellishing and layering....I think I should have stopped a while back. Oh well! So let's see what you can come up with! Post your creation on your blog or an online gallery, and then link it back to the CTD blog using Mr. Linky. Use the keyword "CTD43" if you post it on a gallery, so we can find it easily! Don't forget, you could be chosen as a Featured Stamper or even a Guest Designer! If you don't have these exact colors, feel free to substitute! Now lets see what the others have come up with:

There's something not quite right about this card; it doesn't seem balanced to me or something, but I am finished and need to get on with my day! I did have fun making it and love these colors---of course, they remind me of Parisian Breeze DP, but I restrained myself and didn't use it today! Maybe I should have added GLITTER!!! TFL!

I am trying to use up all my Parisian Breeze DP; I will miss it so much.....I just love Baja Breeze, and I will be sad to see these In Colors retire. You would think I would be hoarding it, but I want to USE it! I had this card base sitting on my desk for weeks....I cannot even remember from whose blog I got the idea (if you know, let me know so I can credit them!). It is a little tri-fold card, with a window punched out (using square punches) at the top of each panel:

Each window panel has a flower adhered to it in a different position. Here is a top view of it, so you can see how it is folded:

and the inside:

I shabbied up the flower from Best Wishes and More by stamping it Confetti White, then overstamping it with Sanded in Creamy Caramel. Then I just daubered and sponged the heck out of everything! Sentiment is from Oval All. I dyed Bashful Blue Taffeta ribbon by rubbing it over the top of my Baja Breeze ink pad (I helped it along by rubbing it with the top of a clothespin--so I didn't get my fingers so inky!). A button from the Latte line was tied over top. Really a simple, shabby little card!

I made four of these very quickly; two I made into thank you cards, the other two I left blank and will add a sentiment when necessary. Flower is from Eastern Blooms; sentiment is from Pocket Silhouettes. Scallop is SU's Square Scallop punch.

Thanks for visiting today; remember tomorrow is Color Throwdown!! And be sure to visit the CTD blog today to see who made the Featured Stamper!

About Me

I am a SU demonstrator who loves all kinds of papercrafts as well as crosswords, knitting, cross stitch and sewing. My sweet hubby John patiently puts up with all of my crafting! I also have a beautiful daughter Dana, a cute SIL Wayne, and a sweet granddaughter Cassidy who brings us joy and laughter! We are a Christian family and strive to glorify the Lord in all we do. You can reach me at leanne.pugliese@gmail.com